PETALING JAYA: Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim has accused Umno leaders of attempting to “destroy” the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) with their calls for the government to allow another one-off RM10,000 withdrawal following the recent floods.
The PKR MP claimed Umno leaders had in the past also nearly wrecked the civil servant’s Retirement Fund (KWAP) with the loss of RM4 billion loaned to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
“Everyone from Umno’s president to its Youth chief wants to gamble private sector workers’ savings in the EPF, supposedly in the name of helping the people affected by the floods.
“Are Umno’s leaders intellectually bankrupt?” Hassan said in a statement.
Party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki were among those who had urged the government to allow contributors to withdraw up to another RM10,000 from their own savings, after the previous i-Sinar dan i-Citra facilities.
Hassan noted that EPF withdrawals amounting to RM101.1 billion had been performed under the three facilities since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, while around six million contributors were found to have critically low savings as of last December.
Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz previously had said that around six million contributors will not benefit from the facility due to an insufficient savings balance.
